South Florida’s only True Jazz Festival returns once again!
The Miami Beach Jazz Festival brings you Jazz and only pure Jazz! This year’s performances highlight “Jazz And The World” and feature a number of performances and special events leading up to the final concert Saturday, January 30th/6PM at the Olympia Theatre headlined by The Daniel Zamir Quartet (Israel), The Joe Carter Trio (Brazil), Sinkope (Latvia), The Markus Gottschlich Trio with Special Guests (Austria) and more. Also during the week there will be special events, Super-Star Trumpeter James Morrison (Australia) will give a free Master Class Monday January 25th/11AM-1PM at Wertheim PAC on the FIU campus, and a free performance by Jazz Pianist Philippe Leoge (France) on Thursday, January 28th Steinway & Sons Piano Gallery in Coral Gables’ Merrick Park Mall at 7pm.
“This is a music festival that can truly call itself ‘Jazz’ and we have been very fortunate to be able to expand the scope to greater heights,” says event founder and producer, Carmen J. Cartiglia. “The Miami Beach Jazz Festival showcases performances from exceptional true jazz artists from around the world and now we have even added an educational aspect with the Miami Beach Jazz Academy.”
Beginning Monday, January 25th, students from Canada, Asia and Europe, who auditioned and were hand-picked, will have arrived and settled into their “Miami Beach Jazz Academy” home. At this location we conduct workshops, masterclasses and evening performances giving the students a unique opportunity to work 1-on-1 with major, international artists. The festival also collaborate with the Miami International University of Art and Design which opens their state-of-the-art recording facility to our artists and students.
Every year the Festival has brought great names in the Jazz World to South Florida. From Michelle Coltrane to last year’s “Living Legends of Jazz” with Bucky Pizzarelli, Monty Alexander, Rufus Reid, Giacomo Gates, Aria Hendricks and Federico Britos the Festival stage has been graced with outstanding performances. And this year will be no exception.
Headlining the main concert on Saturday, January 30th/6PM at the Olympia Theatre in downtown Miami will be Israel’s Daniel Zamir Quartet. Daniel Zamir is one of the most influential and busy musicians in Israel. He is a virtuoso sax player / composer of what could be defined as “Jewish Jazz”, fusing together Jewish folklore and modern jazz, mixed with ethnic and world music elements. A protege of renowned musician John Zorn, Zamir’s albums are the most successful jazz albums ever to be recorded in Israel, with high acclaim from the media and critics. Zamir has released 10 albums including his best seller, “Amen”, which is the best-selling jazz album in Israel ever. Zamir has performed as a special guest of Reggae Megastar Matisyahu on his European and US tours as well as performing with Sting. Ellie Leshem of the Jerusalem Post calls Zamir’s style, “jaw dropping”.
Also on the bill for this show are: The Joe Carter Trio from Brazil showcasing his “Samba Jazz”, a style that combines the improvisational nature of North American Jazz with the lyrical and rhythmical aspects of Brazilian Bossa Nova, Samba, Choro and MPB; Sinkope, a unique Latvian jazz group and Winner of the Baltic Drummer’s League 2015 competition; and The Markus Gottschlich Trio with Special Guests, led by
Austrian-American pianist, composer and Steinway Artist Markus Gottschlich, this exciting Trio has taken Florida by storm with 3-time Grammy Winner Jose Javier Freire on drums from Puerto Rico and 2-time Latin Grammy Winner Rodner Padilla on bass from Venezuela.
James Morrison is a multi-instrumental Australian jazz musician. Widely known for his trumpet playing – he has also performed on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones, clarinet, flugelhorn, bass trumpet, trombone, euphonium, tuba, double bass, guitar and piano. He is a composer, writing jazz charts for ensembles of various sizes and proficiency levels and he composed and performed the opening fanfare at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 Morrison and a capella group, The Idea of North, won Best Jazz Album, for their collaboration on Feels Like Spring. He was inducted into the Graeme Bell Hall of Fame 2013 at the Australian Jazz Bell Awards. He will perform and conduct a free Master Class Monday January 25th/11AM-1PM at Wertheim PAC on the FIU campus.
French pianist Philippe Leoge studied at the Berklee School of Music (Boston) in the early 80s after which he created BigBand 31 as a band leader and musical director, pianist and arranger. In 2002 he decided to devote himself primarily to its activities as a pianist in order to give solo concerts. Since 2014, in parallel to piano solo, he devotes himself in writing orchestrations from Deodat De Severac’s suites for symphonic orchestra. He will give a free concert on Thursday, January 28th Steinway & Sons Piano Gallery in Coral Gables at 7pm.
“We’re bringing the people of South Florida a true Jazz event that they can be proud of!” Mr. Cartiglia goes on to say that “this is the third year of an annual Jazz festival that will continue to grow and establish South Florida as the home for ‘True Jazz’ and the revival Jazz is enjoying.”
General Admission tickets for the Festival’s Main Concert on January 30th at the Olympia Theatre are $45.00. There is also a limited number of VIP tickets available for $150.00 that include valet parking, an open bar and gift bag. Tickets are on sale now at http://tickets.olympiatheater.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=139 or call (305) 372- 0925. The other events are all free.
All dates, acts and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, parking and service and handling charges. All sales are final
“No other city in the world has a higher percentage of foreign born nationals than Miami, so this global theme is a most natural fit for our 3rd annual festival”, states Markus Gottschlich, Artistic Director.
The Festival is being sponsored by: Steinway & Sons, Atlantic Broadband, The Counsel General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico, City Hall Restaurant, Miami International University of Art & Design and the Saulkrasti Jazz Festival.
For more information go to www.miamibeachjazz.com or call: (305)405-JAZZ (5299).